Words I Can't Take Back
by Jess.91
Summary: Sequel to Words I Have To Say, but can be read independently. Sisters argue. That's how families are. You say stuff you don't mean all the time. But what if the last words you said to your sister were words you were desperate to take back...but can't?
1. Chapter 1

Well I got a pretty good response on the last story (I'm assuming those who said it made you cry didn't mean it was because it was so badly written - feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) so here I am again. Using songs in the chapters like last time, this story will focus on Phoebe and Piper, with a different situation but probably the same basic message. OK, so here goes:

Words I Can't Take Back

Summary: Sequel to Words I Have To Say, but can be read independently. Sisters argue. That's how families are. You say stuff you don't mean all the time and althought you can't take words back, you can let them go. But what if the last words you said to your sister were words you wish you could take back?

Chapter 1 - Everyday Hate

Song: Was It A Dream, by 30 Seconds To Mars (Album: A Beautiful Lie)

"Phoebe!" Piper Halliwell yelled and, guiltily, her younger sister turned around.

"Ah, yeah?" Phoebe slowly slid her right hand behind her, trying to set down the tube of mascara inconspicuously.

"That's mine." Piper replied, her eyes narrowed. "I'm sick to death of you taking my stuff."

"I don't take your stuff -" Phoebe began heatedly, but Piper threw her arms into the air and cut her off. "Sweater. Jeans - that were too long for you anyway - my red top, my curlers, my damn lip balm for heavens sake. I'm sick of it!"

_Your defences were on high  
Your walls built deep inside  
Yeah I'm a selfish bastard  
But at least I'm not alone_

"Well...the sweater didn't fit you anymore, I only wore the jeans for, like, an hour, the top looked better on me, you don't use your curlers and I needed the lip balm." Phoebe replied, trying to smile sweetly and not quite managing it. Instead, she looked as though she was challenging Piper.

"How would you like it if I messed with you things? I'm too busy for you and your...your stupidity, Phoebe! Prue's only been out of the hospital for two weeks, Paige is an emotional wreck, Grams is stressed and I'm the only one who seems to think about food shopping, and the pile of bills Grams keeps forgetting about and -"

"Yeah, that's right, and I'm just sat here letting it all go over my head, aren't I?" Phoebe cried. "I'm not feeling anything, I'm not worrying, nah, I'm just sat here being stupid." She looked hard a Piper, and maybe Piper should have backed down, calmed down, should have seen the emotions swirling on her sister's face. But she was streesed, and the resentment and anger that had been simmering under the surface for the last week or so was bursting out.

_My intentions never change_

_What I wanted stays the same_

_And I know what I should do_

_It's time to set myself on fire_

"Yeah, you are!" Piper cried. "You're fifteen Phoebe, buy your own damn make-up!"

Phoebe glared at her not knowing what to say. Everyone was so wrapped up in Prue, and the accident, and Paige and her new-found clinginess. Phoebe knew she shouldn't, but she was annoyed by the way none of her family seemed to notice if she was there or not. Gone were the days when the four of them could hang out together.

_Was it a dream?_

_Was it a dream?_

"You know what, get out of my room before I hit you." Piper snapped.

"Oh, I'm so scared." Phoebe sneered.

"Yeah, maybe you should be. You're just a spoiled brat! Keep out of my room, I don't want you in my stuff. Hell, I don't want you in my life!"

"Oh, really. Well, let's see what I can do about that, then!" Phoebe yelled, and threw the mascara across the room before storming to the door. "GoodBYE!" She slammed the bedroom door barely a seconds before the framed photo Piper had thrown smashed against it. The photo had been the closed thing to hand, and Piper slightly regretted smashing the glass on the family picture.

"Good RIDDANCE!" Piper yelled through the door.

_Is this the only evidence that proves it_

_A photograph of you and I_

_Your reflection I've erased_

_Like a thousand burned out yesterdays_

Phoebe stormed down the steps and towards the front door, rage burning inside her. She was muttering to herself as she opened the front door and when Grams asked where she was going, her "Like you care" was almost screamed.

She stormed down the path and into the street, slamming her feet onto the pavement, satisfied with the reward of the pain shooting up her legs.

"I hate the lot of them." She muttered to herself. "I'm never going back there, they don't care about me, they wont even notice. I'm never setting foot in that house again."

She had nowhere to go, though. And she left everything she owned at home. All she had was a ten dollar bill and the clothes she was wearing. Great.

She was at the park before she'd decided to go there, but a smile spread across her face as she realised. She did have a place to go. Somewhere no one would ever find her.

_Believe me when I say goodbye forever  
Is for good  
Was it a dream?  
Was it a dream?_

**K so it's short, and I cut the song short too, but it's just the start. Let me know if you think I should continue...or stop now...**


	2. Chapter 2

Well, thanks to everyone who reviewed. I kinda thought people wouldn't be all that interested...thanks for proving me wrong. And those who said the songs were good choices, you get big hugs cause am only using my favourite bands in these (MCR are coming up next). Anyway, here goes:

Chapter 2 - Mine

Song: Snow White Queen, by Evanescence (Album: The Open Door)

Phoebe fought her way through the bushes and nettles, cursing when she scratched her arm on who knows what. She hadn't been in the old den for years - hell, she hadn't seen Rob for at least two years.

They'd been so close growing up, she remembered. And they'd made the den at ten years old, spent as much time as they could there, and once, when they were twelve, they'd spent the whole night there. They lied to his parent and her Grams about it, of course, saying they were sleeping at a friends. Spent the whole night awake too, scared of the noises that the night made. Somehow, though, they'd drifted apart, and she'd forgotten this old place.

It was still dirty, still just bits of cardboard and a couple of old sheets from Rob's house, a few stray bits of wood, but Phoebe smiled. Rob obviously didn't come here anymore. And no one else knew it existed - the plant life around it kept it concealed.

It was perfect.

_Stoplight, lock the door._

_Don't look back._

_Undress in the dark,_

_And hide from you,_

_All of you._

As it got darker and Phoebe still didn't come home, guilt was stinging Piper stronger and stronger. Phoebe knew she had to be in by nine. It was now closer to eleven, and Piper knew Phoebe rarely came in late. The sisters had a unspoken agreement to try and make their Grams life as easy as possible.

While Piper tried to tell herself that it wasn't her fault, that Phoebe started it and was probably just at a friends house trying to make her feel guilty, Piper was disgusted with herself. Grams was calling around all of Phoebe's friends now, though, and none knew where she was. And, Piper thought, if Phoebe was just hanging out in the streets, well, anything could happen...

"OK, dear." Grams sighed down the phone. "Thanks anyways. If you hear from her, could you call me? And if she comes over, call me and I'll pick her up, OK? Don't let her go walking the streets in the dark."

Piper bit down on her lip as she watched Grams place the receiver back in it's cradle and pick up the address book again. Remembered how all of them complained about adding friends numbers to the book, claiming it was weird and no one else had personal contacts in the family book. Now she was glad they'd take the time to do so.

And terrified, because Grams had worked her way through most of the list now, and no one had even heard from Phoebe.

----

She'd been in the den hours now, and was sort of thinking it was a bad idea. She had no food, no water, nowhere she felt able to lay down and sleep. She was toying with the idea of just going home and giving Piper the silent treatment for a while, when she froze, hearing rustling noises. Close. Someone was coming to her den? But...they couldn't be. She looked around, wondering when to hide, but other than a stack of old magazines and comics, a dust-covered and probably broken portable CD player and a few flat, old pillows that she and Rob had found in a closet at her house, that were now covered in something she didn't want to know about, the place was empty. So she turned to the entrance, hand on hip and hoped she'd be able to make whoever it was leave.

And when the teenage boy appeared at that entrance, her hand slip from her hip and her jaw dropped.

_You'll never know the way your words have haunted me_

_I can't believe you'd asked these things of me_

_You don't own me_

_Now and ever_

"Rob?" She gasped, and he grinned at her, as everything he'd planned for so long could now be possible.

"Phee. What are you doing here?" He didn't look around the den, just at her. Her face, her eyes. The same as they always had been, those eyes. How many times had he seen that face before? His childhood, his memories. His dreams.

"I...Ran away from home." She grinned like an idiot, knowing how stupid it sounded. "It's good to see you. I missed you."

"Yeah?" His grin had turned into a smirk. Lying. She was lying to him. She probably didn't even remember his last name. "See, I thought you'd finished with me, Phoebe. You know, when you were too busy to hang out, couldn't talk on the phone?"

"I...sorry. I didn't mean to drop you like that." She told him, feeling genuine guilt and regret. It was true, she hadn't made any effort with him once she'd made new friends. Hadn't done it on purpose, but still... "Do you still come here, then?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Sometimes. Not a lot. Didn't think you'd ever come back though. Figured you thought yourself too good for me and this place." He looked up, met her eyes, but she didn't notice the cold glint in them.

"What? No, I -" Her words were lost when his fist connected with her face and she fell backwards. Sprawled on the floor she looked up at him, only now remembering the temper her ex-best-friend had always had. And that that was one of the reasons she'd backed away from him.

"I guess I deserved that." She mumbled. "Look, I'll go." She got to her feet, her heart pounding. She was scared, scared of the boy she'd grown up with, the boy who'd killed spiders for her, played Cinderella with her, and who she knew she'd never completely trusted.

"No. Stay. We'll catch up." He grinned, and this time she saw the glint. She shook her head, started for the door, and screamed when he grabbed hold of her hair and pulled her back.

"I've thought about you a lot over the last few years, Phee. About how I'd make you pay for what you did."

"I didn't do anything-" She protested.

"That's an interesting opinion. Let's see if we can change that." She screamed again as he threw her to the ground. "You're not going anywhere, sweetheart." He laughed again as her eyes rolled back into her head.

_You belong to me,_

_My snow white queen._

_There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over._

_Soon I know you'll see,_

_You're just like me._

_Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you._

She wasn't unconscious for long. Not even a full minute. And when she woke, he was staring down at her, and holding her hand.

"Now, Phee, lets talk."

---

Midnight. It was midnight and she wasn't back. Grams was calling the police. Paige was terrified, her nerves easily rattled these days, sat in the chair just staring at the floor, and Prue was worried and showing it on her face, the face that still showed the gash on her head from her recent meeting with a car. Piper was shaking slightly, and wishing she'd never said the things she had.

_"Phoebe, please come home..." _She thought desperately, looking out of the window into the darkness of the street.

----

Phoebe was shaking too, much more violently, as Rob spoke.

"I loved you." He told her. "I doted on you and you knew it. I see that now. Using me to get what you want. And then just throwing me away when I had no more use."

"No, Rob, we just -"

"Shut up." He said calmly, quietly, coldly, and had her heart beating even faster.

_I can't escape the twisted way you think of me._

_I feel you in my dreams and I don't sleep._

_I don't sleep._

He watched as her eyes flicked to the door, as she obviously thought about running.

"You can't get past me. No where you can run, and you know I'm faster, I've always been faster." She knew it was true, and the stupid heels she lived in, to make her look taller, older, would slow her even more. "And no one can hear you scream." He told her.

"Why don't you just let me go home -" She said carefully.

"No. Not until I've finished. Until I'm bored. Like you got bored with me. Cause, you see, Phee, me and you are the same. Two halves of a whole. Peas in a pod. Cut from the same dirty cloth. So until I'm ready to let you go, you're staying right there."

_You belong to me,_

_My snow white queen._

_There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over._

_Soon I know you'll see,_

_You're just like me._

_Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you._

"My dad died, Phoebe." He said quietly, with sadness that jolted her. The anger was gone, the hate, and in it's place pure sorrow. "Last year. I needed you then. You know what's it like, to lose a parent like that, and I needed you. You weren't there for me!" His voice and face swung back to anger to fast she flinched. "I held you while you cried over your mum, but I was alone when he died." He hit her, hard, as he yelled, and she felt her nose break under his fist.

As blood fountained out, his anger faded, his face blanked, and when he started to speak again his voice was calmer. "My mum was a mess. Still is. She's taking all these pills, anti-depressants and stuff, but she spends most of the day in bed, just doing nothing. She's dead inside Phoebe. And I'm all alone. I don't like to be alone. I think I'm going the same way as her. My mum. I'm going to die too, aren't I?"

"I..." She didn't have an answer, and it scared her, the way his eyes had softened, from angry, dangerous, to young and vulnerable. It tugged at her heart, the fear and sorrow on his face, while at the same time her own face sang with pain.

"I don't want to be like her, an empty shell. I don't want to die inside." He looked at her, almost pleading, and she realised she was crying silently.

_I can't save your life,_

_Though nothing I bleed for is more tormenting._

"I can't help you." She murmured. "Please, let me go..."

"It's all falling apart. And you're not there to help. And for that, I could kill you." And his voice hardened again, his face closed and his eyes blanked.

_I-I-I'm losing my mind _

_And you just stand there and stare_

_As my world_

_Divides._

She looked at him, into his eyes and paled. Because she was pretty sure he meant what he was saying.

_You belong to me,_

_My snow white queen._

_There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over._

_Soon I know you'll see,_

_You're just like me._

_Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you._


	3. Chapter 3

Hi guys sory it's been so long my internet decided to stop working. It hates me. It really does.

Chapter 3 - The Eyes To Hell

Song: Give 'Em Hell, Kid, by My Chemical Romance (Album: Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge)

"Phoebe." Piper murmured, waking up. When had she fallen asleep? She had been tired, so tired, and so worried and guilty. She hadn't meant to sleep, didn't think she could until Phoebe was back. But somewhere during the night she'd let exhaustion take her.

Grams was stood by the window, her back to her granddaughters, and quickly wiped away the tears that had slipped past her guard.

She never cried in front of them. They depended on her, trusted her, and she wouldn't let them doubt her.

"Not yet." Grams said. "The police are looking. Piper glanced over to the sofa where Prue and Paige were sleeping, suddenly noticing Andy sat next to Prue, holding her in sleep.

"When did he...?"

"He came with his father. Inspector Trudeau is heading the investigation, as a personal favour."

"He'll get her back, then." Piper mumbled.

"Of course he will."

_Oh baby here comes the sound!_

_I took a train outta New Orleans and they shot me full of ephedrine._

_This is how we like to do it in the murder scene._

_Can we settle up the score?_

Paige listened to the exchange with her eyes closed. It was easier if they thought she was asleep. She didn't have to listen to their lies, them trying to reassure her. Did they think she was stupid?

She was confused, so mixed up, and didn't know how to get over it. When Prue was in the hospital, she, Paige, had believed Prue would live, and, even though she'd been right, no one else had, and by the end of it al lher hope had gone too. Now, she knew that denial, that desperate hope when all hope was gone was useless. And she couldn't bring herself to hope for anything about Phoebe...

Only, Prue had come through, hadn't she? Prue had survived, despite what the doctors had said. And maybe that should have reassured Paige. But it didn't. Luck didn't strike twice like this. Miracles didn't repeat. And that feeling when all hope was crushed, the loss, the desperation, it had choked her, and she refused to go through that again. So she forced herself to stop thinking, worrying, _feeling._ And just closed herself up.

_If you were here I'd never have a fear._

_So go on live your life._

_But I miss you more than I did yesterday._

Phoebe's eyes were burning with tiredness, her throat sore and dry, her face covered with dried blood from her nose and faint bruises already appearing on her skin.

Rob watching her, just watching. She wondered if he was waiting for her to speak, but she was too scared to make a sound. She sobbed, screamed, whispered that she was sorry more times that she could count during the night, and taken every punch, slap and kick he'd given her in the hope it would make him let her go. It hadn't.

Her skin was pale, contrasting crudely with the blood and bruises, and the shadows around her eyes. Her hair was messed up, some of her clothes torn a little, from the times she'd moved wrongly, and he'd pulled her back, thrown her to the floor, assuming she'd been trying to escape. Maybe she had. She wasn't sure anymore, wasn't certain what kind of person she was.

_You're beautiful!_

"I saw you around school a couple times, Phee." He said, his own voice croaking as the sound scraped against his raw throat. He didn't care.

"I didn't know. I'd've said hi." She mumbled.

"No, you wouldn't. I didn't blip on your radar. Not important enough."

"I..." She trailed off. Was he right? Was she the kind of person that did that? Used people, cast them aside, ignored them? Her thoughts blurred, her mind blurred. Maybe she was.

_Well I'm a total wreck and almost every day._

_Like the firing squad or the mess you made._

_Well don't I look pretty walking down the street. _

_In the best damn dress I own?_

"If you'd just have said you wanted to be a bitch, Phee, it wouldn't have been so bad. You could've told me you wanted to be a bitch and so couldn't hang with me no more, couldn't you?"

"Yes. Sorry." She mumbled.

"Maybe you could say it now. Maybe it'll make up for it and I'll let you go. Say it."

"Ah...I...I..."

"Say it."

"I want to be a bitch. Can't be mates anymore." She mumbled. She was drained, emotionally, physically, but she looked at him and saw the laughter in his face.

"Well, what do you know? It didn't help. Too little, too late, I guess."

She closed her eyes, didn't even have the energy to cry. She wanted Grams. Her dad. Her mum. Anyone. Someone to save her.

_If you were here I'd never have a fear._

_So go on live your life._

_But I miss you more than I did yesterday._

_You're so far away._

_So c'mon show me how._

_'Cause I mean this more than words can ever say._

If she hadn't have argued with Piper she wouldn't be here. If she hadn't always been messing with her stuff. She'd wanted the argument, and she knew it. Wanted someone to yell at her so she could yell back. How else was she supposed to tell them how she felt? She'd hoped Piper would understand, hear what she hadn't said, seen how she felt, and would hug her. She'd wanted someone to hug her, wanted comfort, and had been too scared to ask.

Now she would've begged for it.

"This is all your fault, Phee." Rob said, and she realised he was smoking. She hadn't even noticed him light up. The small space filled with smoke, the smell of it seemed to gather in her throat and she felt sick. He followed her gaze and smiled at the cig in his hand. "This is, too. Me and the cancer sticks. Stressed, you see, cause of you."

"Sorry." She murmured auto-matically. He laughed, and, slowly, deliberately, walked over to her, and kicked her. She was already slumped on the floor, and even though her body double over in defence she barely felt it. She hadn't been used to being hit until just a few hours ago. Now she was.

"You're not. People like you, you don't feel sorry for anything. You don't care about anyone."

Was that true? No, she cared for her family, and knew they'd be worried about her. She wondered how they'd feel if Rob killed her. Remembered how she'd felt when her mum had died.

And it was that thought, that she'd be causing them to go through that pain again, that had the tears leaking from her eyes.

_Some might say we are made from the sharpest things _

_You say, we are young and we don't care_

_Your dreams and your hopeless hair._

_We never wanted it to be this way._

_For all our lives._

_Do you care at all?_

"Where could she have gone?" Prue cried. "She's out there somewhere, isn't she? How can no one see her? How? How, how, how?" She broke down, sobbing into Andy's shirt, while Paige and Piper watched, helpless.

"He'll find her, Prue. My dad'll find her." Andy said desperatly. "He'll find her."

"What if she's dead?" Prue sobbed. The question they'd all thought be not dared to speak, hung in the air. Piper felt the bile rise in her throat, and bolted from the room to be sick in the kitchen sink. And there, she sank to the floor, and she broke, too.

_If you were here I'd never have a fear._

_So go on live your life._

_But I miss you more than I did yesterday._

_You're so far away._

_So c'mon show me how._

_'Cause I mean this more than words can ever say._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Smile of the Damned

Song: The Ghost of You, by My Chemical Romance (Album: Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge)

It was Paige who found her there, sobbing on the kitchen floor, and Paige who crossed to her and knelt beside her. And it was Paige who simply held tight as Piper sobbed all over her.

"I'm sorry." Piper stammered, when she'd finally sobbed it all out. "I shouldn't have cried on you."

"Why? You don't have to be strong, just because you're older." Paige replied flatly. Close it off, don't feel. Don't feel.

But damn it, she was hurting too, and it was getting harder to ignore.

"If I don't, who will?" Piper replied, smiling weakly.

"Why should anyone?" Paige replied. Piper nodded slowly. "Piper, can I ask you something? I...In your heart, do you believe she's...that Phoebe's dead?"

"Ah..." Piper paused, thought, felt. "No. I don't."

"Me neither. I wondered if I was just in denial." Paige murmured, lowering her gaze, and, watching her, Piper didn't know how to help.

"No. No, you're not." Piper mumbled. "She's still alive. I can feel it."

"The only thing is...how much longer will that last?" Paige murmured, confessing her worry, her fear.

_I never said I'd lie and wait forever_

_If I died, we'd be together_

_I can't always just forget her_

_But she could try_

"Do you think I'll kill you, Phee?" Rob asked casually, the way someone would ask about the weather.

"This time last week? No, I wouldn't have. Now, I think you could." She muttered.

"Really? I always thought I could. Kill you, that is. After you ditched me like that, I thought about it all the time."

"Well, gee, thanks." She muttered. She was tired, hungry, cold, scared, and getting angrier by the hour. She'd almost rather he kill her than keep her here, telling her how bad a person she was, hitting her occasionally. Fresh blood was still trickling from her nose, from the last time he'd rammed his fist into it, barely fifteen minutes ago.

"I should kill you, shouldn't I? You deserve it, don't you?"

"Sure. Now either kill me or let me go home, 'cause you're boring me now." She didn't care if she made him mad anymore, knew he'd hit her anyway if he felt like it. Might as well know she'd eared the hit, get her opinion in. Or maybe she was just going slowly crazy.

"I don't think you're ever going home, Phee." He said, his voice hard and sharp.

_At the end of the world_

_Or the last thing I see_

_You are_

_Never coming home_

_Never coming home_

_Could I? Should I?_

"Really?" Phoebe kept her voice carefully flat, but filled with a desperate kind of fear.

"Really. You're not bleeding anymore."

"Oh, you wanna fix that?" She spat. "I never knew you were this evil, Rob. Never." He hit her across the face, backhanded, and sent her sprawling onto her side and hitting her head on the floor, dizzy, she looked up at him.

"Evil? Me? You - you are evil, Phee. You. And you're going straight to hell." He stepped towards her, a smile on his face. The haunted smile of the dammed.

_And all the things that you never ever told me_

_And all the smiles that are ever ever..._

_Ever..._

An hour later, Inspector Trudeau walked into the Halliwell manor, his mouth grim and his face showing horror and sadness that he struggled to hide, a colleage at his side.

"What's happened?" Grams asked, a slight hopeful note to her voice.

"Ma'am." The other officer began. "I'm afraid -"

"No, Jay, let me." Trudeau said. "Why don't you...ah..."

Jay just nodded and stood up, walked from he room. He knew that sometimes cases got personal. For his partner, this was one of them.

"What's happened?" Grams said again, this time all hope faded from her voice.

"Penny." Trudeau shook his head. "God, Penny, I...They've found a body. It might not be her, it just matches the description, I'm going in, I'm going to see her, find out."

_Get the feeling that you're never_

_All alone and I remember now_

_At the top of my lungs in my arms she dies_

_She dies_

"I want to - I have to -" Grams began, and he nodded.

"I have to take you with me, you have to tell us if it's her. I pray to god it's not, Penny."

"Now. I want to go now." Grams muttered, springing to her feet.

"Of course. Jay will stay with the kids." Grams nodded, stumbled into the hall.

"Dad..." Andy said quietly, getting up and walking over. "How big a chance is it?"

"I...I don't know, son. I just don't know." His dad put his hand on Andy's shoulder, squeezed, not daring to wonder how he'd feel if he lost his own kid. "Take care of these girls, son. Look after them." Andy nodded, watched his father walk into the hall and help Penny out of the house.

Piper was shaking, violently, and had slid from her seat onto the floor. She'd been shaking from the start of Inspector Truduea's arrival. And when Andy crossed to her, pulled her up and hugged her like a brother, a father, she held on for a few seconds before pulling back.

"I killed her." She said. Her eyes were dry, her voice full of pain and guilt. "I killed her."

"Piper, I know you argued with her, but it's not your fault. And we don't know it's her -" Prue said shakily.

"No, Prue. No. If it's her, then it's my fault. I killed her."

_At the end of the world_

_Or the last thing I see_

_You are_

_Never coming home_

_Never coming home_

_Could I? should I?_

Words were no comfort to her, and none were offered. Piper stared at the floor, her own guilt eating at her.

I want you out of my life. Those were the words she'd said. Those were the last words she said to her sister. Hate-filled words that had caused Phoebe to run from the house.

And into the arms of a murderer?

And the worst, the worst of it all, was that deep in her heart, she still didn't believe Phoebe was dead.

_And all the things that you never ever told me_

_And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me_

_Never coming home _

_Never coming home_

_Could I? Should I?_

_And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me_

_For all the ghosts that are never gonna catch me_

_If I fall_

_If I fall (down)_

Andy pulled Prue close to him, held her, because he needed it. It hadn't been long ago that he'd almost lost her, that he thought he'd lost her, and while his heart filled with sorrow for Phoebe, he needed to cling to Prue.

Prue clung back, suddenly helpless. She didn't know what to do, how to fix this. And her own grief was choking her.

Paige just sat, watching Piper. And she, too, didn't believe Phoebe was dead.

_At the end of the world  
Or the last thing I see  
You are  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
And all the things that you never ever told me  
And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Could I? Should I?  
And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me  
For all the ghosts that are never gonna...  
_


	5. Chapter 5

Not many reviews since my internet broke down on me, I guess people lost interest. Bad internet. Or maybe the story sucks. Whatever. Well, this is the last chapter anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter which one it is.

Chapter 5 - Someone Save Us

Song: Heaven Help Us by My Chemical Romance. (B-side to the single, Welcome to the Black Parade)

Grams walked slowly back into the manor slowly, and stood in the living room doorway until her granddaughter and Andy turned to look at her.

"Grams..." Paige murmured, without any idea what else to say.

"I...It wasn't her." Grams whispered. "It wasn't Phoebe."

The gasps and cries of relief were drowned out by Piper's loud, screaming sobs.

_Hear the sound _

_The angels come screaming _

_Down your voice _

_I hear you've been bleeding _

"Piper, it's OK. It's not her. She's still out there somewhere. We were right." Paige said, moving towards her. "It's OK."

"I know. I know." Piper nodded shakily. "Who - who was it?"

"I don't know. Never seen her before, ever. Does it matter?" Grams asked weirily, stepping forward into the room.

"Not to us, but she matters to someone." Paige snapped, her eyes blazing. "She's someone else's sister, daughter, _grand_daughter!"

"I know, I know, it's OK." Grams crossed to her, pulled her up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Paige."

Paige just shook her head, hugged her grandmother tightly. She hadn't realised how scared she'd been. "It could have been her. It could have been her." She mumbled. She'd tried not to feel, but in the end she couldn't. Somethings you never can stop.

"I - need to walk. Somewhere." Piper muttered, and bolted for the door.

"Piper!" Prue called, a note of fear in her voice. The last time a sister had walked out of that door...

"I'll be back." She promised, and wrenched open the door, rushing from the house and down the path.

_Make your choice_

_They say you've been pleading_

_Someone save us_

Piper was only a block away before she couldn't stop it anymore. She bent over, braced her hands on her knees and threw up in the street, violently.

She managed to stay on her feet this time, by sheer force of will, refusing to collapse into her own vomit. But she stayed leaned over, not sure she'd be able to support herself in another position.

She's not dead. She's not dead. She's not dead.

Shaking, Piper finally stood up. She couldn't sit in the house with them, feel their relief and underlying fear. And her own nausea had been threatening to take over. Leaving seemed the only choice.

Maybe she is dead, Piper thought suddenly. Just because the body laid in the city morgue wasn't her sister, it didn't mean she wasn't dead.

Because sickness was threatening again at the thought, Piper began to walk. Just walk, walk and hope for a miracle.

_Heaven help us now _

_Come crashing down _

_We'll hear the sound _

_As you're falling down _

She walked a familiar path, ended up at the park. She liked to come her. Their mum used to take them here. When they were a normal family. A complete one.

She remembered, back when their dad had left, when Piper had stated that they were orphanes now, alone in the world, she remembered the four sisters falling into a tangled hug, and Prue telling them they weren't alone. They always had each other, and they could survive anything together. Childhood innocence, the ready faith that came with it, had made the four of them believe those words, cling to them for comfort.

But they weren't all together now, were they? She, Piper, had ran from the family, and Phoebe...

Piper sat on a swing, not caring that it was starting to rain around her, not caring that she wasn't wearing a jacket and the cold was stinging her bare arms. She didn't care about anything, just Phoebe.

_I'm at this old hotel_

_But can't tell if I've been breathing or sleeping or screaming or waiting_

_For the man to call or maybe _

_All of the above _

_Cause mostly I've been sprawled on these cathedral steps _

_While spitting out the blood and screaming _

_Someone save us!_

That's when she saw it. Or rather, saw her. Stumbling away from the bushes and trees at the far end of the park. A figure, a girl.

"Phoebe?" Piper didn't move for a moment, not sure if she was seeing things. But it was her, it was. Bruised and bloody, stumbling and staggering, Phoebe was trying to run.

"Phoebe!" Piper screamed, and ran towards her, faster than she'd ever run, ever known she could. Phoebe didn't see her until she was two feet away, hadn't heard anything but her own heart pounding and her ragged breath struggling.

"Piper." She croaked, and when Piper threw her arms around her, Phoebe felt her legs gave way and just let herself be held up, held close.

"What happened to you?" Piper sobbed.

"Rob. What if he comes back? He'll come back, he'll come back, I have to get away from here." Phoebe was crying now, and her voice kept catching, but Piper heard the fear, the plea.

"Come on, come on, home." But as Piper tried to lead her, Phoebe could barely stand. She would have sank to the floor if Piper' grip wasn't so tight.

"Have to run. Have to run. Can't. I can't." She was mumbling, confused, scared. And Piper was suddenly scared too. Someone had done this. Someone could come back.

"Come on Phoebe, come on baby." Piper said desperately. "You can do this, please." She half-dragged, half-lead, but she somehow managed to get her out of the park.

_Heaven help us now _

_Come crashing down _

_We'll hear the sound _

_As you're falling down _

"Not far, it's not far." Piper murmured. "Keep going."

"Hurt me. Tired. Drink." Phoebe mumbled. Everything was a little blurry, and she couldn't think straight. Was this Piper? Really? Or was she dreaming? Was she going to wake and see his eyes again, find herself back on that dirty, bloodstained floor. Her blood. Lots of blood, hot, gushing, didn't feel the pain anymore. Gushing. Where? Why? It was important, but Phoebe couldn't make the thought form, and so she let it go.

Then she saw the manor, the big red and white blur that she knew was home. And she heard Piper yelling, thought she saw the front door open and people rushing towards her. Then she heard Andy's voice, louder than the desperate blurs of her sisters.

"She's bleeding. Where's she bleeding from?" Andy's voice was desperate though, and she struggled to focus. Bleeding? Her face again? Her nose had bleed a lot, hadn't it? Gushing. Then she remembered, wondered vaguely how she could have forgot. "_I'm going to kill you now, Phoebe. See this? It's knife, darling. Focus on it now. I know you're tired, but surly you want to see this." Laughing. He was laughing, and she was too weak the even roll away from the knife as he forced it into her stomach. It didn't hurt, but she remembered the sound it made, the hot feel of her blood pouring from it, and his laughter. "Now, I think I'll leave you hear let you bleed to death alone, see. You deserve that, to be alone. Bye bye, sweetheart." And he walked slowly out. She'd sat their blankly for a while before she realised he was gone, and had crawled to the door, somehow pulled herself to her feet._

"Stabbed." She managed. "Stabbed."

Then she heard someone yelling for an ambulance, felt someone yanking up her top and heard the gasps. Someone was pressing a towel on the wound, and suddenly her own word made sense to her. Stabbed. She'd been stabbed.

And she felt herself sink to the floor before the world went black.

_And will you pray for me?_

_Or make a saint of me?_

_And will you lay for me?_

_Or make a saint of..._

"A name. She didn't say a name?" Prue said desperately. She was gripping Piper's hands, in the waiting room of the hospital. Piper closed her eyes, saw the image of her sister laid on the floor, bruised and bleeding, unconscious, and opened them again.

"I don't know. She was confused, and mumbling. Tired. I couldn't really make it out."

"Think, Piper. Think. Anything. We need to get the person who did this." Andy's dad said softly.

"What if he comes back for her?" Andy said, and that jolted Piper.

"I...God. I can't think straight."

"Talk us through it." Prue said. "Exactly what happened, right from you leaving the house."

"From leaving the house?"

"Every second." Prue nodded.

"Ah, OK. I, ah, threw up. A block away. In the street. Felt like I might do it again, so started walking. Didn't want to think about Phoebe, about anything. Was at the park. Didn't decide to go there, just ended up there. Starting to rain, lightly. Softly. Barely felt it. The kind that you don't pay attention to, the kind that soaks you, and you didn't think it would."

"OK, then what?" Andy prompted gently.

"Ah, sat on the swing. Thinking about Phoebe again. Guilty, cos if I hadn't shouted at her, she wouldn't have left the house, and - and -"

"Piper." Paige said softly, and Piper nodded.

"Saw her. Didn't really click at first, just stared at her for a second. Maybe two. But it was her, I knew it was her. I was running. She was all bruised, and I could see dry blood, on her face, her hands. Maybe I saw what had soaked through her top, but I wasn't thinking about it. I just...She was staggering, like she couldn't walk properly. Trying to run, but...she didn't have the strength left." Her voice broke, and she took a second to breath before she started talking again, brushed away the single tear that leaked from her eye. She wouldn't cry. She needed to concentrate.

_Cause I'll give you all the nails you need _

_Cover me in gasoline _

_Wipe away those tears of blood again _

_And the punch line to the joke is asking_

_Someone save us _

"She didn't see me until I was right there, just a few steps away. Looked confused, scared. So scared. She said my name. Fell into me. I held her, held her up, hugged her. Didn't want to ever let go...I asked her what happened. She - she said...Oh, god. She said '_Rob. What if he comes back? He'll come back, he'll come back, I have to get away from here_.' She was crying, shaking, sounded so scared. She couldn't stand anymore, so I was holding her up, dragging her. She said she had to run, but she could. Can't."

"Rob. Who's Rob?" Prue asked.

"I don't know. Maybe that's why I didn't remember. Rob."

"Rob?" Paige repeated. "Rob was that boy, the boy she used to hang around with. A few years ago. I never liked him, he scared me, but Phoebe said he was her best friend. Then a few years ago they weren't mates anymore."

"I remember." Piper whispered. "Oh, god, I remember. He was the creepy one, used to give us weird looks. She just kinda drifted away from him, didn't she?"

"That little boy?" Grams whispered. "She used to have him over for tea..."

"He did that to her?" Andy snarled. "I'll kill him. I'm going to kill him." He actually took a step towards the exit before Prue grabbed him.

"Andy, Andy, just wait."

"No, Prue. No. she's in one of these rooms, bruised and battered and _stabbed._ She's like my sister too. He's not getting away with it."

"No, he isn't." Andy's dad replied mildly. "But you're staying right here, son."

"Dad -" Andy coloured only slightly, having forgotten his dad was in the room.

"I'll sort the kid out. The right way. Do you have a full name on the boy?"

"Uh, Robert Morse." Paige said. "I'm pretty certain."

"Any idea where he lives?" Grams recited the address uncertainly.

"I used to drop her off, pick her up. Even gave him a ride home sometimes. Gosh."

"Sit down, Grams." Prue murmured, and Penny did so.

_Heaven help us now _

_Come crashing down _

_We'll hear the sound _

_As you fall_

Phoebe blinked as her sisters, Grams, and Andy filed into her room. The nurse eyed them, muttered something about rest, and too many people. She was ignored.

Phoebe ached all over. She felt as though every inch of her body was bruised. Her face, nose, was throbbing, and her abdomen was sore.

"Phoebe." Piper said softly. "Oh, Pheebs."

"Am OK." Phoebe mumbled. The light was hurting her eyes. She half closed them.

"No, you're not." Prue murmured.

"Last time, last time you were here, and I was stood there." Phoebe muttered groggily.

"Yeah. Yeah. I wish it was me instead of you, Phoebe." Because Prue sounded close to tears, Phoebe shook her head.

"If you were laid here like this I'd be sad."

"Better than in pain." Prue murmured. Phoebe just shook her head.

"Rob." She said slowly, as it all came back to her. Distress flooded her expression.

"It's OK. My dad's gone to arrest him." Andy assured her gently. "He'll be locked up. He can't hurt you anymore."

"Oh. He...he said he'd been waiting to kill me for ages cos I ditched him. Said I used him and just ditched him when he wasn't useful anymore. Said I was just a bitch who used people, that I was evil." She was crying silently, didn't even realise it.

_And would you pray for me?_

_(You don't know a thing about my sins, how the misery begins)_

_Or make a saint of me?_

_(You don't know, so I'm burning, I'm burning)_

"You're not evil Phoebe." Piper said softly. "You're not anywhere near it. I know you, I know you're not. I'm sorry for what I said Before you left."

"Wh...Oh. That stuff. Did you mean it?" Phoebe asked as she closed her eyes again.

"No, no, never. I'm so, so sorry."

"Doesn't matter then. If you didn't mean it, it's just the same old stuff, isn't it. We do it all the time. Love each other anyway."

"Yeah, we do." Paige murmured.

"See. Don't be guilty, Piper. Not your fault."

"It's not yours either." Andy said sharply, catching the tone of Phoebe's voice. "No matter what he told you, it wasn't you fault. Phoebe, listen to me. He stabbed you, beat you, broke you. You didn't deserve it, never have. Never will. Trust me."

"OK. He's not going to come here, is he?"

"We'll never let him near you again." Piper promised.

"OK. Piper. You helped me home. Dragged. Couldn't have walked there. Too weak. Tired." Everyone else knew it was from dehydration as well as exhaustion, but no one said anything.

"Yeah, I did. You'll be OK now." Piper said softly, stroking back Phoebe's hair.

"Yeah. Can I go to sleep now?"

"Sure, sure you can." Piper said, and when Phoebe instantly did so, the filed out of her room.

_And will you lay for me?_

_(You don't know a thing about my sins, how the misery begins)_

_Or make a saint of me?_

_(You don't know, cause I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning)_

"I don't think she remembers properly." Prue said. "She didn't seem all that scared, was too easily assured."

"She's tired. Probably too tired to think straight." Piper replied wearily. "And on god knows what meds. What do we do when she wakes up, if she's scared? How can we get her though that?"

"We do what we've always done." Paige murmured. "We stick together, we help each other. We always promised to do that."

"Yeah, we did." Piper nodded. "Maybe we forgot that a little bit, lately."

"It doesn't matter." Prue said. "We remember now."

"We're going to be OK, aren't we?" Paige asked. It was more a statement than a question, but there was a childish kind of hope in her voice. Hope. They'd all lost that, somewhere along the way. Maybe it was time it came back into their lives.

"We're going to be fine. Somehow, we're going to be fine." Piper nodded.

_Cause I'll give you all the nails you need_

_Cover me in gasoline again._

**And The End. Maybe they'll be a sequel, I think it's pretty open for one. The last few song bits, the stuff in brackets is being sang under the words not in brackets, btw. Not easy to write down, but it sounds awesome.**


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